For four decades, he's been feared as a parentís worst nightmare. Now, after making 28 albums and selling out concerts worldwide, Alice Cooper is back onstage, thrilling fans with a new world tour and a new album, "Dirty Diamonds."

With his unique mix of blood, gore, and goth, Cooper changed the course of rock Ďn roll when he drove a stake through the heart of the peace-loving hippie scene back in the sixties. And the rock legend stopped by our studio for a rare interview with our resident music critic, Jude Cole.

Alice Cooper: We were the first to use make up, first to use the stage, first to ever do anything theatrical on stage.

AC: Finally people were just starting to go, "Okay, enough, whatís next?" And we were next. And what we stood for was sensationalism. We were bringing show biz to rock Ďn roll.

JC: You wanted to shock people.

AC: Yeah, and not just shock people, but something swashbuckling, something that was dramatic. Everything else was so nice, it didnít have any edge.

JC: You were going to set the world on fire?

AC: Yeah, and it was fun. For one thing everybody bought
into it. We were the most notorious band in the world.

Cooperís influence can been seen all over the rock world, from Marilyn Manson to Kiss, David Bowie to Elton John.

AC: David Bowie used to come to the concert when he was David Jones. Elton used to come to the concert when he was Reggie.

JC: So where does it go from here? What do you do to shock people?

AC: I donít think you do. I think what you do now is you entertain the audience, and you use shock tactics. Britney was pregnant, so we werenít going to cut Britneyís head off again. We did that last year, you know.

JC: Thatís old news.

AC: So who walks right into our sights? Well, Paris Hilton. And is anybody not tired of seeing these divas with these little Chihuahuas in their purses? I said, "What would happen if the Chihuahua went for her throat?" So we do a song called "Sunset Babies All Got Rabies." She's on the floor beating this dog, and the audience is dying laughing because everyone wants to see that.

So it seems that rock Ďn roll's original bad boy is
still giving it to them like only he can.